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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

Are you attending ASIS 2015 in Anaheim this year? Are you concerned about Student Safety? Social media seems to be a big challenge for every school, as well as violence, sexual misconduct, depression, bullying and numerous other incidents that can make your school’s learning environment difficult for everyone. Administrators know the gaps can get you, so how do you eliminate these potential risks and liabilities? Students, faculty, staff, parents and community members all know things you don’t… You can maximize your ROI and ROP (Return on Prevention) by attending one of the intensive pre-session programs on Sunday, September 27th. Awareity’s founder and CEO Rick Shaw,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  Rick recently sat down with Homer Public School’s Secondary Principal Randy Pirner to learn more about their school safety efforts and use of TIPS.  As a small rural school in Nebraska, we are definitely impressed with Homer’s leadership and their innovative efforts to keep their students safe! Below is a quick excerpt from the interview.  Click here to listen to the rest of Principal Pirner’s Lessons Learned!   Why did your school see the need for a proactive prevention program like TIPS? Principal Pirner: We found that we had an issue with bullying; not a significant number, but we had a total disconnect fromRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Emergency Management, School Safety

    The title of a recent article caught my attention – “Last Line of Defense” http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/19/universitys-new-whiteboards-double-bulletproof-shields   The article talks about how a higher education institution has spent $60,000 on whiteboards that can be utilized by teachers as bulletproof shields. The president of the institution said: “We are not really doing this in response to a specific event; I see it more as an opportunity to be prepared and to be proactive in our approach to safety on campus,” Bell said. “We think that it’s worthwhile.” This comment highlights a very serious and very dangerous awareness gap with many school and college administrators.  REACTINGRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Risk Management, School Safety

  Unfortunately, many people do not know the differences between security and safety because so many security solutions have been misrepresented or misunderstood. For over 30 years, I have had the privilege to assist thousands of organizations with multiple security related technologies, services, vendors and solutions.  For the most part, Security related efforts are understood by most people because security efforts are focused primarily at REACTING to a risk or threat at your front door and/or REACTING to an incident or tragedy in progress.  For example, security related efforts include, but are not limited to, doors/locks (to keep people/threats out), cameras (to record threats atRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Emergency Management, Incident Reporting, School Safety

  I met some really outstanding people this month while presenting at the NASRO national conference and I deeply appreciate how school resource officers (SROs) and school security officers (SSOs) are striving to make a difference with students and with schools. Before and after my presentations I had some interesting conversations with several SROs from schools all across the U.S.    One of the SROs I spoke brought up an ongoing challenge with cameras.  He would like to replace outdated analog cameras that do not give him the clarity he needs to recognize and identify people.  He also wants to add more cameras for better coverageRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Regulatory Compliance, School Safety

Great news! A pending New Jersey bill would mandate that all public and nonpublic schools conduct monthly school security drills for non-fire evacuation, lockdown and active shooter response.  Why is this great news? Currently, most schools probably have emergency security plans in place, but due to lack of implementation many schools are not comfortable with their level of preparedness.  They have a plan, but because they are not actively implementing and practicing their plans, confusion exists regarding roles and responsibilities and what do actually do if an incident were to occur.  The status quo methods outlined below are not working: You have an Emergency Plan.Read More →